Archive for Communications

Movember: the story of how ridiculous facial hair became a success

26 November 2012 Rachel Communications, Interests No comments
Movember2008

Really good ideas are infectious and sometimes it can be something as simple as an alcohol-fuelled bet to generate the best ideas. You’ll not be oblivious to how November has transformed from a grey, miserable month, to a month full of men sporting ridiculous facial hair, and can there be a better idea than that?

The great thing about Movember is that it’s fun and has a purpose. You don’t need many more ingredients than that to gain popularity, but the Movember movement had many of it’s own challenges. They overcame these problems and in less than 10 years Movember has gone from a bar chat to a huge charity event raising millions to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

Rather than tell you the whole story of the cause, I’d encourage you to watch Adam Garone, co-founder of Movember, discuss his fantastic story, it is available from TED.

And well done to all those growing their own moustaches for this cause (plus a special congratualtions to your girlfriends for dealing with the stubble!)

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Battle of the Christmas Adverts

24 November 2012 Rachel Communications, Marketing One comment
Rachel Barkley Christmas

It’s that time of the year again! As the leaves began to brown, out came the fairy lights and tinsel, Christmas had arrived.

One of my favourite things about this season is the Christmas advert, while venturing outside in the cold, dark winter will more likely leave you with soggy feet than festive spirit, the Christmas advert brings the magic sparkle of the season right into our front rooms.

Every year our favourite retailers battle it out to produce the biggest, the best, and the most tear-inducing advert possible. So who has produced the best advert for 2012? We’ve seen them on our television screens for the last month, but which ones will stay with us after the mushy brussle sprouts are consumed?

John Lewis

Like much of the British public I love John Lewis adverts. In recent years (go back too far on YouTube and they’re not of the same standard) they’ve got very good at telling a stories about normal life, and yet they add a sparkle and magic to these stories. Last year we learnt about the impatient young boy who was desperate to present his gifts. So this year I was eagerly awaiting the 2012 Christmas ad. This year we got snowmen.

I’ll admit it, there were tears. Yes they were snowmen, but the advert tugged at all the right heartstrings, sentimental, romantic!

M&S

M&S bring us a fun advert this year, showcasing a wide variety of their ranges.

Debenhams

The department store make our festive season just a little bit more fabulous!

Asda

Attributing Christmas success to mum hasn’t been without controversy, many people hit back at Asda’s advert over Twitter.

Morrisons

Mum also seems to be holding fort for Morrisons, maybe it’s a Yorkshire thing?

Waitrose

The upmarket store took an alternative approach to this year’s advert encouraging their customers to support the supermarket’s chosen causes.

Finally, a post like this wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the ultimate Christmas ad. Holidays are coming…

So who wins the battle of the Christmas adverts? Well, I think that is up to you to decide!

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Social Medialympics

13 August 2012 Rachel News, Opinion, Social Media One comment

Social media joined the Olympics this year. We may not have seen a Tweeting competition; however we did see the Games shared over social networking faster than the news sites could manage.

Unfortunately I did not manage to watch as much of the Olympics as I would have liked, but not at one point did I feel I missed out on an important achievement. I felt delight as Mo Farrah got his double gold, I felt the pain as Rebecca Adlington missed out on the medal she wanted and I shared the wonder as Usain Bolt showed the world just how amazing he was. I may not have watched it, but I definitely did not miss out. As one Olympics played out on our screens, another could be seen developing on our mobile phones, tablets and computers.

My Olympic view

I was able to have my own Olympic experience as I went to watch the Women’s Hockey on the first Sunday of the Games. We were actively encouraged to participate in the social discussion through the use of hashtags on Twitter.

Reading through the Sunday Times this morning, there was a report on Olympic sponsors using social media during the Games. This should come as little surprise to any of us, basic marketing comms theory teaches us that sponsorship requires a communication campaign to support it and make it truly effective. Common sense probably tells us those texts are unnecessary! Having paid millions to affiliate their names with the five rings, it would make little sense to try and disguise this association for many of the companies.

Social media has also been bad, we’ve seen Tom Daley through Twitter. However this is something we have grown to expect. Social media has been known to give people too much freedom to target people. It also lets people hear the criticism they don’t want to hear and we don’t necessary know how to take that.

It seems quite sad that the Olympics has already been and gone, but I loved it this year. I loved being able to keep track by Twitter, how about you?

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Social media: not just for the young

12 August 2012 Rachel Communications, Featured, Opinion, Social Media One comment
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The speed and ferocity with which social media has adopted itself into the business world was quite shocking. Many organisations did not expect it, many organisations are still only just picking it up and plenty of organisations are still getting it wrong. One place that a lot get it wrong is through thinking that because the young are on it that they know how to use it. There is a huge difference between having a personal social media profile and being able to run a tactical marketing campaign using Twitter or Facebook.

During placements and work experience I have frequently been asked for ideas about using social media and while I hope not to have let down my generation, I also think it is important to acknowledge that this is not a tool exclusive to those born post 1985.

Social media may work differently to other forms of marketing communication tools, it moves quicker and allows direct audience reactions, but to harness its potential it still should be approached with the appropriate business skills. The reality is these business skills are rarely natural and usually require education and experience. We know younger people have a tendency to feel comfortable with social media, but we need to teach them how to use this comfort to create effective results, instead of expecting them to know.

This is not to say we should underestimate the power of a childhood growing up with technology. While I was at school I remember the use of blackboards, the implementation of an ICT lab when I was well into my primary education and we still used old school projectors even in the later half of my secondary education. This is different for my sister, 10 years my junior. The world I knew was one of technology being adopted, the world she knows is of that technology being enhanced. While I consider myself to have very strong computer and internet skills, I have to accept that my sister, who has never known life without a computer or without the internet at her finger tips, will grow up with the potential to be more competent than me. And this is only in 10 years. Imagine how these 10 years will look like in the workplace.

Younger people can bring a wealth of knowledge about the benefits of social media in the workplace, and I don’t mean to undervalue that at all, all I wish to reiterate is the importance of having experienced strategic knowledge to back up social media use.

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PR placement wish list

8 July 2012 Rachel Career, Communications, Education, Placements, Public Relations One comment

This is where I live now (annescountrygallery.co.uk)

Around the country many of my fellow PR students will be tottering off nervously, excitedly, even confidently into offices to begin their placements years. I love writing about employability, and have looked at the subject of placement years numerous times, so I am very excited to be currently pursuing my own.

We all have our own personal reasons for choosing to take a year out of studying and undertake a placement year, so I wanted to share with you some of the qualities and experiences I hope to gain over the next year.

  1. To become a better writer. There is always room to improve your writing, and this is something I am passionate about. Writing has been an outlet to me since I was able to craft words on a page. In my life I write down everything, from ideas, to lists, to emotions. The real skill in writing is learning to create work designed for a specific audience and succeeding in getting your message across. During my placement year I want to work hard on really refining my writing in order to develop the most effective form for my company.
  2. To understand PR. This by no means translates as my course having been poor so far, but I do still feel I need to understand more about the role PR plays in the business world. A combination of short-term placements and academic theory have given me glimpses but in the next year I want to learn more about the importance of effective PR. By the end of the year I hope to be confidently defending the necessity of PR to any doubters.
  3. Experience the environment. It is not possible to replicate the working atmosphere at university, so this year gives me a chance to enjoy the business environment and be able to get involved in all aspects of working life.
  4. Know my dissertation! The dreaded D word! I am hoping that a year in industry will help me develop my PR interests and hopefully out of this will come a dissertation subject that will keep me interested throughout the assignment period.
  5. Prepare for final year. Dissertation is simply one part of final year, and I believe a placement year will equip me with the skills and knowledge to help advance me during my final years, hopefully resulting in a satisfactory outcome at the end of my degree.
  6. Ignite a love for the outdoors. Random one? Not really, my placement has seen me relocate from my city locations to a rural village in the South East. Being such a foreign environment my hope is that I embrace the access to the outdoors and get more involved with the walking, cycling and other outdoor activities I enjoy but neglect while in the city.

In a year’s time I will be sure to update you on whether I realised my hopes and wishes for the year. In the meantime I will be working hard to ensure I get the best experience from my placement year.

So, what do you want to gain from your placement year? Please leave your comments below.

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Disclaimer: I wish to reiterate that this blog is personal and is in no way connected with any of my employers or companies with which I am associated.
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Looking beyond the Olympics

7 July 2012 Rachel Communications, Marketing, News, Public Relations, Ultimate Frisbee No comments
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There is a certain upcoming event in London later this month. It is an event many years in the making. It is an event which has seen 70,000 people give up their time to volunteer. And it is an event which has caused many logistical headaches. I am not about to talk about the Olympics, although it creates many interesting areas of PR and marketing conversation and debate. I wanted to remind you of those sports we forgot, the ones which do not feature in the Games. Have a look at this blog to read up on some of the most unique sports found being played in the UK. Reverting to an old favourite, although unfortunately a sport I have recently neglected, I was interested to read this week that UK Ultimate, the governing body for Ultimate Frisbee have partnered with Wham-O Europe to support the Frisbee@schools project. This strikes me as an excellent partnership which hopefully will encourage some very positive outcomes. I personally look forward to seeing its development.

Rachel Barkley Aim High

200 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I cannot promise this blog will remain Olympic-free, over the past few months I have been fascinated with all the PR and marketing related topics that have arisen as a result of the Games in London. From a non-PR perspective I also have a great personal interest, the tickets for a Hockey event sit in pride of place on my desk. I am really looking forward to enjoying some of the exciting Olympic vibe in one of my favourite cities.

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My interview tips

20 June 2012 Rachel Career, Employability, Featured, Features, Human Resources One comment
Welcoming_Guests

The other week I made an admission about liking writing CVs, well here is another weird one, I also like interviews. When you think about them they are a bizarre event, two parties saying why they would be great for each other. Perhaps it is the pressure, having to think through scenarios, but something means I enjoy the experience.

What qualifies me to write this? Have I got every job I have interviewed for? No, but I have sat on both sides of the table, had interviews go wrong and others go really well. I wanted to share the things I have learnt, they will not work for everyone.

Before getting into my tips I think it is important to make the point that if you do not get the job do not take it personally. We live in an employers market and this means they can be fussy, rather than not getting a job reflecting on your weaknesses it is more likely to represent the strength of another candidate. Not everyone gets their dream job, so we dust ourselves off and move on.

Now for my top 4 tips:

1) Preparation

Preparing for an interview is essential, there are many different techniques that work for people and we have to find what works best for us individually. Things to prepare can include organising your portfolio, showcasing your most relevant work; listing your key qualities and identifying weaknesses, I have seen this preparation go as far as writing out possible interview questions and answers. That may be a bit far for some, however the important point that you walk into the room feeling confident and ready to shine.

2) Research

Research is a part of preparation but it is so important that it deserves its own tip. There is nothing worse than being in an interview room, asked a question related to the organisation and being unable to answer it, it looks pretty bad as well. Research an organisation as much as possible, learn everything you can about them. The more you learn, the less likely they are to ask (in my experience!) and that is far preferable to not knowing something.

Take research a step forward and make a case study on part of the organisation, for example how they have launched a product. I have seen people have great success with this technique, and even if you do not share it with your interviewer it will help you gain a better understanding of the organisation.

3) Don’t worry about being perfect

As I have said, interviews are bizarre. We may think that the interviewer is expecting perfect answers, the reality is that they are not. You do not have to say the first thing in your head, you can take a moment to think about your answer. Although taking too long can start to look bad!

Interviews are also designed to test you in different ways, for example to see how you react under pressure. Try to remain as unflustered and calm as possible, remember that the interview is all a show, so play it well.

4) Be yourself

We may hear it all the time, but it is true. Do not walk into the interview room pretending to be someone else because that rarely works. I once went to an interview on crutches having fractured my ankle two days before, I had no expectation of getting the job but I felt it was too late to cancel, the result was I entered that room without the nerves or pretence that I might have, and the feedback showed my personality shone through.

 

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Making a dog’s dinner of blogger relations

16 June 2012 Rachel News, Social Media No comments
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What happens when you get blogger relations completely wrong? You may find yourself trending on Twitter. At least that was the case for Argyll and Bute Council when they asked 9 year old blogger Martha Payne to stop taking photographs of her school dinners, fearing that they were a misrepresentation of their services.

While Martha has since been allowed to continue taking pictures for her blog, this story offers up some important lessons for anyone dealing with blogs.

1) Never underestimate the power of blogging

Blogs continue to be on the up, they provide people with a perception of word-of-mouth information and recommendations that work to our preferences. It is still in marketing terms a relatively new form of communication, having only gained popularity in the last decade or so, and as a result many people still do not understand its power and how to use it.To gain perspective on its power let’s look at a few statistics:

  • 4 out of 5 internet users visit social networks and blogs (The Social Skinny)
  • 61% of social media are willing to give feedback on brands or products (Salesforce)
  • And finally, one 9 year old schoolgirl from Scotland has raised £45,889.46 through her blog (Never Seconds)

If numbers the don’t convince you, the final one should. Through the buzz around her blog Martha has had over 4,264,492 views (a count that was increasing rapidly when I last looked) but more impressively raised enough money to feed over 5,000 in poor countries. Now that’s impressive.

Not all blogs have gain the same visibility as Martha’s, but this does not mean they should be underestimated. Many blogs develop small, but loyal followers and all have the potential to hold influence over your potential public.

2) Do not try and hush a problem away

The local council felt that Martha’s blog misrepresented the meals they were serving, their solutions appears to have been to try and get rid of the problem by telling Martha she could not take photos. Did this work? Martha’s blog ended up on international news websites, trended on Twitter and had more page views than most blogs have in their lifetimes. Sometimes trying to hush a problem is the worst thing you can do. This is where effective blogger relations come in handy. There are many positive examples littering the web showing companies who have engaged with bloggers after negative reviews and salvaged their reputations.

Blogger relations is an area of growing importance, and one which I have barely scratched the surface of here. Done correctly and it has the ability to build important relationships with customers, done badly and it could be disastrous!

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What does your CV look like?

2 June 2012 Rachel Career, Human Resources No comments
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I have an admission to make, I love CVs. This may be considered strange, but I really like them. I like writing my own, helping others write them, and during my period in recruitment I enjoyed reading others. The CV is a snippet of your life, one way you choose to represent yourself to potential employers.

Recently I have been looking at the future of the CV, the trend shows recruiters are looking to alternatives to the CV. One of the most popular alternatives being LinkedIn. My friend Liz introduced me to vizualize.me which takes your LinkedIn profile and turns it into an infographic.

Click on the image below to see my full infographic.

Rachel Barkley Aim High

It is an interesting way to look at your LinkedIn profile, and it allows people to easily interpret the information.

There are things I do not love about it, for example it does not show voluntary work as part of the Experience, when we all know voluntary work can be very important for adding employability particularly amongst young jobseekers.

Overall this is a fun and interesting way to look at your LinkedIn profile, useful for helping develop your profile or share your information effectively.

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What is the future of the CV?

23 April 2012 Rachel Employability, Human Resources One comment
Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

The CV is dead, or is it? Apparently 54% of employers believe the CV will be replaced by social networking, so I wanted to ask, how would this work. An easy place to start is Linkedin, the business social networking site (as deemed by Wikipedia!)

As of yet, I do not believe my Linked in has contributed to my career, however as it is open to anyone who types my name into Google, who knows whether my employers have looked at it or not! Linkedin does offer brilliant opportunities to share your careers, network with potential employers/employees and other exciting stuff. I have barely scraped the surface of the opportunities that Linkedin offers. This is evident through looking at my profile! If this was a replacement for my CV, one could say it’s essentially useless, almost empty, and rather uninteresting. Is this truly how I want to represent myself online?! Pop onto this page and I hope find it significantly better representation of myself. I have reasons for my lack of sharing in detail on Linkedin, they are complicated but the general idea is that I would rather someone popped onto my blog and got a real idea of me as an online entity.

Enough about me, Linkedin is having a growing importance in the world of recruitment. If you apply for a job, do expect to be searched online, and be prepared, either by being essentially anonymous or more likely, having a positive representation of your personality, life and achievements. I have also seen requests for a link to your Linkedin profile as part of job applications. In these applications they have also requested a copy of your CV, so while the CV may not yet be dead I believe that this represents the adoption of Linkedin.

Linkedin is great, show the world your jobs, your achievements, your recommendations. It’s easy and accessible, it keeps you to relatively rigid structure while allowing your personality to shine. It is more difficult to lie, which is good for employers, and should not be a problem to employees who should not be lying anyway!

There are disadvantages, if you are currently employed your employer may feel nervous about you having a profile. As social media policies join staff handbooks you may even find that you are prohibited from naming your employer, or talking about your work online. If it appears that you are actively seeking an alternative job an employer may not take too kindly to this either, demonstrated by the case of John Flexman. Generally these can be avoided if you take the time to understand your company’s policy on Linkedin, any doubts, then ask HR.

I think we are still a while away from the death of the CV, but I do think Linkedin is a great tool for recruitment and will continue to experience growth. It is important for us to understand the implications of this and be prepared.

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